Styx and Stones
by lycos anthropos
Summary: Nico di Angelo is feeling depressed. Even after he saved everyone's butts in the Titan war, it feels like nobody wants him around. Is life even worth living?
1. Chapter 1

**Styx and Stones**

Nico di Angelo sat alone on the bank of the River Styx, reflecting on his life. He had one real friend, his mother and sister were dead, and his father wasn't even mortal. He was a scrawny, pale loser with no real home, and even though he had pretty much _single-handedly_ just stopped the apocalypse, everyone still saw him as a freak to be ignored. Was life really worth living? _No,_ he decided_, it wasn't_. Without another thought, Nico rose to his feet and jumped head-first into the River of Hate.

The next thing Nico knew, he was sinking to the bottom, but it didn't hurt as much as Percy said it had when he took his dip in the Styx. He could even breathe underwater, and his soul separating from his body wasn't nearly as painful as one might think. _This is it_, he thought, _I'm finally done. _Nico relaxed at the bottom for a moment before appearing soaking wet in front of his dad's throne.

It didn't feel any different from any other time Nico had been in his father's throne room. For a minute, he sat confused; shouldn't he be in Judgment? Reality struck Nico hard; it seemed his father had summoned Nico before his soul had finished separating. He was alive.

"What were you doing?" Hades asked his son. Not that he didn't already know; he could see his son's thoughts as he was dying. The god of the Underworld always did have a stronger bond with his children than most other Olympians. Seeing his son's expression, Hades knew he wasn't getting an answer, or at least not one that wouldn't make him feel guilty.

Nico didn't know what just happened. What he _did_ know was that the Styx didn't give him the Curse of Achilles, at least. That should make the task at hand simpler. The demigod looked at his father, into eyes even more disapproving than usual. "F-father, I-"

"Go back to camp," said Hades, disgust in his voice. If this was a cry from attention, the brat wasn't going to get his way. All demigods had limited contact with their parents; Nico would have to learn how to deal. And with that thought, he snapped his fingers and sent his son to what was possibly his least favorite place on Earth; Camp Half-Blood.


	2. Chapter 2

Nico tumbled into his cabin, not quite sure of what had just happened. The cabin was just as he left it, Greek fire burning and Mythomagic figurines lined up according to attack power. After changing into dry clothes, making sure his books were alphabetized, and taking a minute to straighten the figurines (he was a little OCD), Nico walked into the annoyingly bright valley known as Camp Half-Blood.

There was still a week before the summer crowd went back to school, so camp was pretty packed. Nico was planning on slithering into the forest and shadow traveling into the city, but his plan had to be delayed when a familiar voice spoke from behind him, "Nico?"

Busted.

"Hey, Percy," Nico said unenthusiastically. The son of Poseidon would definitely know something was up, and he wouldn't stop until he found out what. Nico wasn't very excited to tell his one friend that he had just tried to kill himself. _Maybe you should've thought of that before you jumped into the river, _the rational part of him thought. _I figured I would be dead and wouldn't _have_ to tell him, _shot back the cynical part.

"I just got a message from you dad saying- where are you going?" Percy asked as his "cousin" started running toward the forest. "Nico!" Hades's message had seriously scared Percy. Nico was just a kid; he couldn't be doing things like that. He was too full of spirit to try to take his own life. Not wanting to give Nico a chance to try anything else, Percy raced after Nico, thanking the gods that Nico was still so small and couldn't run very quickly.

The son of Hades barely made it 500 yards before Percy caught up to him. "Leave me alone, Percy," he muttered. "I'm not in the mood to talk." He tried to walk away, but Percy grabbed his hand, knowing his under-sized cousin wouldn't be able to escape. At four-foot, ten and less than 100 pounds, Nico was a complete shrimp. And Percy used that to his advantage.

"We need to talk, Nico," he said soberly. "Your dad just sent me a message saying-"

"I jumped into the Styx with every intention of letting it sever my soul from my body and would be dead right now if he hadn't summoned me to his throne?" Nico finished, speaking without emotion. Searching his face, Percy couldn't see any either. Had his cousin really been that ready to throw his life away? Yes or no, Nico needed help.

Come on, Nico. Let's go-"

"Go where?" Nico interrupted again, "Everyone here hates me. I have no family in the mortal world. My dad… Dad doesn't want to see me right now, and anyway, he doesn't really like people in the Underworld. Especially you."

"Then where were you planning on shadow traveling to just now?" Percy countered. He wouldn't be letting Nico out of his sight for a while, and getting an idea of where he might try to escape to could be helpful.

"Into the city," he mumbled. Obviously he wasn't going to give away too many details.

"What's in the city?" Percy inquired. Nico didn't seem like the type to window shop or explore museums when he was down.

"I go there a lot when I feel like getting out of the Underworld. I really don't spend as much time down there as people think." Nico had stopped struggling, but kept thinking of ways to escape. If he was touching Percy, he would come along for the ride. The only way out was to either overpower Percy and force his way away, or coerce him into taking him to the shadowy forest and letting him go before they left. Overpowering him wasn't an option, considering Percy had nearly a foot on Nico. It would have to be the latter.

"Who do you stay with? Or like, do you have your own secret apartment?" Percy wondered. Nico may not look like he had connections, but people would be surprised how many "friends" a son of Hades could have.

Nico mumbled something unintelligible.

"What?" Percy asked.

"I sleep on the street. You got a problem with that?" he demanded.

As a matter of fact, Percy _did_ have a problem with that. Nico was just a kid, and a small one at that. Demigod or not, he could get seriously hurt out there alone. "Nico," Percy said. "You know you can stay with me whenever, right?" _That was good, _he thought, _it made him feel welcome, but not like he was weak and can't take care of himself._

"Why? Because I'm weak can't take care of myself?" the twelve-year-old demanded. _Even Percy thinks I can't do anything right,_ Nico thought miserably. _I'm done. As soon as I can get away from him, I'm done._

To Nico relief, the question made Percy nervous enough to loosen his grip. Before Percy knew what was happening, Nico shook his hand loose and was halfway to the forest. Thankfully, Percy was able to capture Nico before he could get under the shadowy cover.

"Come on," Percy demanded. When Nico dug his heels in the ground, refusing to move, Percy simply swept his arm under Nico's legs and carried him to his cabin. Despite his size, Nico was strong and put up a good fight all the way to the Poseidon cabin. Percy got the feeling that if he was anyone else, Nico might've taken out his sword and sucked out Percy's soul.

_And he wonders why I want it to end, _thought Nico, _he just humiliated me in front of literally the entire camp. Well, he can't keep me here forever._


	3. Chapter 3

"Okay Nico. What happened? I want the whole story," Percy was almost positive Nico wouldn't talk. Still, he wasn't expecting to turn around and see Nico crouched against the wall, chin on his knees, with tears streaming silently but steadily down his cheeks. "Uh…" Percy wasn't sure what to do, so he grabbed a tissue out of the box on his dresser and handed it to his cousin. "You really do need to talk about this," said Percy gently, kneeling beside the smaller boy.

"No I don't Percy!" Nico snapped, "Now just… leave me alone."

"Why? So you can find another way to k-kill yourself that your father won't be able to interrupt?" Percy regretted what he said the second it left his mouth; he should be helping Nico, not judging him.

The boy sat staring into space, a blank look on his face. He was swaying slightly. It was a full ,minute before Percy could get his attention.

"N-nico? Are you okay, buddy?" Percy cringed; Nico hated being called that, "Should I take you to Chiron?"

"I already told you Percy, I'm not going to talk about it!" Nico, it seemed, was ready to pick up right where he left off with Percy. His head was spinning now, but he ignored it; he was used to constant dizziness.

"Dude, you just t-totally freaked out. It was like, you were here but your mind was somewhere else," Out of everything Percy had seen Nico do, that little episode had scared him the most.

"What? How- no, you're just trying to distract me. You want me to tell you something." Percy heard the distrust in Nico's voice. It hadn't been there in a while, but now it seemed that the son of Hades had been pushed well passed the edge.

"Nico, do you really not remember that? For well over a minute you were just standing there, looking blank. It was kind of creepy," Percy looked at Nico, searching for signs of recognition, but it seemed that Nico had no idea what he was talking about.

"Percy, can we finish this tomorrow? I'm really tired," and he looked it. It seemed that, out of the blue, someone had installed magnets in the young demigod's eyes.

"Fine," sighed Percy, taking pity on his troubled cousin; it _was _getting pretty late, and there was no denying it had been a long day, "but you're sleeping here. And you had better be here in the morning."

"Can I get something from my cabin really quick?" asked Nico, a plan forming in his mind. "I'll be right back."

"I know you will be," replied Percy, and for a second Nico thought he was home free, "Because I'm going with you."

_This complicates things, _thought Nico, _but it's still possible._ As soon as Nico stepped out of the cabin, he sprinted a few steps then willed his body to merge with the shadows, to transport him to his little alleyway on 32nd Street. Unfortunately, Percy grabbed on to him a second before he could fully merge and the son of Poseidon came along for the ride.


	4. Chapter 4

It took almost twice as much energy for Nico to transport two people as oppose to just himself. "Perrrrcy," he groaned, "What in Hades would possess you to do that?" Shadow traveling while drowsy was never a good idea, but taking somebody with you doubled the risk for ending up in China (a problem Nico already had trouble with).

"I figured you would stop once you realized I was holding on to you!" Inside, however, Percy was secretly glad; he knew Nico would never leave him alone in the city at night, as if _Percy _was the one that needed protection. The kid was good like that; no matter how bad things looked for him, he refused to leave his friends alone.

"Whatever. Sorry, I'm too tired to take you back to camp. We'll just have to sleep here tonight," Nico didn't seem to have any problems sleeping in a dark dirty alleyway; in fact, he seemed more comfortable there than he did at camp. He just curled into a ball and laid his jacket over himself like a blanket.

Percy had none of his calm, "Won't people see us? Things happen in the city, Nico. I don't care how many times you've done this, it isn't safe. My apartment is only-"

"No one's gonna bother us Percy. Not once they see me." Nico mumbled. He was already almost asleep.

"What do you mean, 'Not once they see you?'" Percy would never say this to his face, but Nico looked like every muggers dream; small, scrawny, alone (usually), expensive-looking clothes. He was going to get seriously hurt one of these days.

"I know what I'm doing Percy. I've made some friends, scared off some enemies. We'll be fine," When was Percy going to get that he wasn't some weak little kid anymore? He closed his eyes and refused to say another word for the rest of the night.

Percy was unnerved. The city was creepy, and he highly doubted Nico had done anything that could scare off _everyone_ .The kid looked so small and innocent. Finally, realizing he had no other choice, the sixteen-year-old lay down and closed his eyes, thinking there was about a one-in-ten chance they would wake up.


	5. Chapter 5

Nico awoke in the early hours of the morning. Percy just couldn't get it; his life was too perfect to understand why anyone would want to do what Nico had done. Everyone liked Percy. They respected him almost as much as they respected the gods. The dead respected Nico, out of fear at least. To him, it made the most sense that he should be with them.

Now that it was getting brighter out, Nico didn't feel so bad leaving Percy. He'd never be able to outrun him, and Percy was sure to notice if he left, no matter how deeply asleep he was. Nico was still too tired for shadow travel.

"Help!" Nico screamed, running away from Percy, "He's trying to kill me!" This plan might actually work. Despite the time, there were plenty of people on the street.

Percy went racing after him, desperate to help, "Nico!" He wasn't going to let anybody hurt his cousin._ Wait, _Percy realized, _if Nico is so determined to die, why would he care if someone else does it for him? _After a minute, a thought dawned on him, _that sneaky little devil._

A line of thugs stood between Nico and Percy. "This kid bothering you, Nico?" asked the largest one. It really was comical; he was muscly and dark, almost two feet taller than Nico, and yet, here he was taking orders from a scrawny white boy.

But Nico didn't answer; he just ran. Unfortunately, he ran right into a tall, powerful looking businessman. "Hey, buddy. Where are your mommy and daddy? Do you want me to help you find them?" Percy thought Nico would kill the man. Instead, he stared blankly.

"Wh-what? No!" Nico sputtered, "I don't want you to help me find _Mommy and Daddy!"_

"I'll buy you ice cream," coaxed the man.

"Ice- what? How old do you think I am?" demanded the Ghost King. "No, really," he added when the business man stuttered, "Tell me how old I look!"

"Uh-oh," said Percy and the thugs simultaneously.

"I'd say about… nine?" the man replied, thinking it'd be good to go up a year.

_Nine_… Nico mumbled to himself; that was the final insult. He made to walk away, pulling his sword out before moving completely out of sight.

Percy didn't waste time on thoughts. Shoving his way through the thugs, he chased after Nico; just because the blade wouldn't absorb his soul didn't mean he could live with it sticking through his heart.

Percy tackled his cousin, realizing only after how stupid it was; it was all too possible both demigods would end up dead. "Nico, you're coming back to camp," Percy ordered. Before Nico could argue, he did a strong cab-whistle, "Blackjack!" he called.

"Percy, you know Blackjack hates me," Nico sighed. _But at least he tries to hide it, even if it is only for Percy's benefit. _

"No he doesn't, and even if he does, I don't care; you're coming back to camp," Percy was not about to let Nico try shadow travel while he was this weak, and he really couldn't think of another way to get back to camp.

A few seconds late, a dark shape descended on them from the sky. _Hey, boss. Need a- oh dang, you got Death Boy with you? Alright, where you two goin'?_

"Just back to camp, Blackjack. Thanks," Percy knew why Blackjack wasn't very fond of Nico; he smelled like death. But the Pegasus would never leave Percy or his friends stranded.

_Hop on,_ Blackjack said in Percy's mind. After giving Nico a boost, Percy hopped on back, making sure Nico couldn't "accidentally" fall off.


	6. Chapter 6

Nico was breathing heavy when he dismounted; sometimes he felt like he was missing a lung, he was so short of breath. Nobody had noticed they left; aside from dinner, Percy hadn't missed any activities, and nobody even knew Nico was at camp. After being lead back to the Hades cabin (Percy thought Nico would be more comfortable there), Nico asked, "What do you want me to say, Percy?"

"Why did you do it?" Percy answered, "What was so special about yesterday?"

"N—nothing, really. I'd been thinking about it for a while," Nico replied shamefully, tears running down his face. "Nobody likes me. My entire family is dead, and you don't seem to realize that I don't need a babysitter twenty-four seven!" Nico added angrily. The tears were coming faster now, and Nico was harder to understand, "You can't seem to get it through your head that I'm not a little kid anymore!" Nico realized that might not seem very convincing in a room full of McDonalds Happy Meal toys and card-game figurines, but he really didn't care.

"I like you. Annabeth likes you. And Grover-"

"Don't pretend Percy. I know you only talk to me because you still feel guilty about Bianca. And Grover and Annabeth only put up with me because of _you!_" Nico probably would've said more, but he was overwhelmed. Instead, he threw himself down on his bed, which looked more like a coffin to Percy. The older boy was about to go over and comfort his cousin, when he heard a knock at the door. "Should I get that?" Percy asked uncertainly.

Nico flung a hand in the air in a gesture that looked like, "fine", so Percy made his way to the door and found Annabeth standing on the other side. "Uh, now's not really a good time Annabeth," Percy said nervously. He wasn't entirely sure how she would react to the situation, or if Nico even wanted her to know.

Ignoring Percy's warning, Annabeth peered into the cabin. "Why is Nico crying in a coffin?" she asked, "Oh, gods, is that a bed?" She walked over to the boy in an attempt to soothe him. "Nico, what happened? Did Percy do something stupid?" She added that last part as a joke, but Nico took it _way_ too seriously.

"What makes you think Percy did something stupid? Because I'm too _young _and _small_ to take responsibility for what I do so if I mess up it gets blamed on Percy? Or because you already expect me to have done something stupid so you find it redundant to ask about me?"

"Um…" Annabeth stuttered. Usually Nico managed to stay calm, and if he did blow up like that, it didn't last. "Nico, what's bothering you? You can talk to me, you know that, right?

"I tried to kill myself by jumping into the River Styx and letting it suck out my soul," Nico told her bluntly. Nico watched as the news sunk in.

"But… Nico, you of all people should see the value of life," Annabeth replied. She sounded unsure; even the daughter of Athena didn't know what she was supposed to say.

"The reason you have to be good in life is so you can be happy in death," replied Nico, "Once Hades grounded me in the Fields of Punishment. A week helping Sisyphus push his boulder wasn't nearly as bad as being shunned here on Earth," Nico finished morbidly. It seemed he really had thought about what he was doing.

Percy was staring in shock. He still couldn't understand why Nico always listened to Annabeth but not him. "Nico, how much thought did you put into this?" Percy asked, hoping to get answers.

"I still don't see how this is either of your business," deflected Nico.

"Your dad sent me a message telling me what happened and that I needed to talk some sense into you. And you told Annabeth yourself," Percy replied. Finally, a fight he could win. "Now talk to us."

"What do you want me to say? I'm a useless twerp with no friends and no family. Everything I do ends in death, and I'm not even welcome in the one place all demigods are supposed to be safe!" They would never understand. Those two were just too important to realize that some people just weren't needed on Earth.

"Nico, of course you're welcome here. You have a cabin, right?" Percy replied, trying to calm his cousin; more people could come if they heard yelling, and that would probably just make things worse.

"Only because of you," Nico shot back. Percy could be really dense sometimes. Nico made to stand up, as sitting down when others were standing made him feel awkward, and his head felt like all of the blood suddenly went on vacation. Black clouded his vision, and he collapsed.

"Nico!" Annabeth and Percy screamed simultaneously.

"I'm fine," Nico said, already back on his feet. Just a head-rush.

"Nico, you probably see a doctor. If this happens a lot-" Annabeth started.

"I don't have body-heat, remember? I'd probably give the doctor a heart attack. Or he'll pronounce me dead," Nico added bitterly. Sometimes it was hard being Hades's child.

The prism on Nico's dresser lit up, signaling a collect Iris Message. After tossing in a Drachma, Nico was surprised to see his father on the other end. "Father?" Nico knelt and bowed his head reverently before saying more, which seemed like overkill to Percy and Annabeth; god or not, Hades was Nico's dad.

"I see I sent you good help," Hades said. Was it Percy's imagination, or did he see real worry on the god's face?

"Yes Father," Nico agreed, "Percy's been very helpful."

"And the girl?" Hades pushed.

"_You_ sent Annabeth? I thought…" Nico trailed off, looking a little hurt.

"You did not _send_ me! Annabeth argued. I heard yelling and-"

"Do you really think you'd be able to hear Nico's childish screaming while you were half asleep in the Athena cabin?" Hades reasoned. "You may have chosen to come on your own, but you couldn't have known there was anything to come to if not for me. Now, will you two please give me a moment alone with my son?" Percy and Annabeth left the cabin.


	7. Chapter 7

"I have no idea what I'm doing," Percy admitted as soon as the door closed, "Nico's just a kid. But kids don't try to drown themselves. Kids don't sleep alone in alleyways in the city. Kids don't lose their entire family to godly forces by the time they're ten. Kids don't spend more time with the dead than the living. Kids don't have their memories erased in the River Lethe. Kids don't- kids just don't _do_ that stuff; it's not normal!" Percy was confused. One minute, Nico was a normal twelve-year-old who ate McDonalds and played trading card games, and the next he was sullen, distant, and ready to jump off a bridge!

"Percy," Annabeth said gently. She was at least as confused as he was, but decided to take it upon herself to be the rational one, "I think that's what Nico was trying to tell you; he's not a kid anymore," Did she really believe that? No, but Nico did, and at the moment, that was what really mattered.

"Mmm…" Percy mumbled.

"What 'mmm'?" Annabeth demanded. "mmm" wasn't fitting with the conversation.

"I'm not even sure what's really bothering him. He always freaks out when someone calls him small or messes up his age, but he keeps saying he's depressed because people don't accept him."

"But we-"

"Nico thinks that I only talk to him because I feel guilty about what happened with Bianca, and _you_ only talk to him because _I_ talk to him."

"Then how do we make him believe that we really _do_ like him?" wondered Annabeth.


	8. Chapter 8

"Stand up. How can you expect me to talk to you when I can't see your face?" Hades demanded. When Nico obliged, the god continued, "Now, what was going through your mind, boy?" Nico his father the entire story, from the river bank to what happened in the city, keeping his face free of emotion, knowing his voice would follow if he didn't, and that could be embarrassing with Annabeth and Percy right outside.

"You stupid boy," Hades said as his son finished his story, "Nobody likes death; that's just the way it is. They see it as a loss. Mortals have never been able to fully understand that death is necessary. Without it, the world would overflow. People like Medea and Jack the Ripper would be free to wreak havoc forever. The reason they don't like you, Nico is because they don't think. They're dense, rash beings that don't know how to think further than their next mortal mistress," For some reason, Nico got the feeling they were no longer talking about him.

"Uh… My Lord?" Nico asked. He wasn't sure what to do or say.

"They saw what happened with Sisyphus, and still those bone-heads on Olympus can't understand the importance of death. How could mortals be expected to know better?" Nico was surprised at how much sense that made. "Now," Hades continued, "Can I trust that you won't come back to my realm without your body any time soon?"

"Yes, My Lord. But-"

"'But'?" asked Hades. What was it going to take for this boy to realize that anybody who fears and dislikes death was not worthy of them?

"Why did you let Hitler kill himself?" asked Nico. On most other days, he would have been worried a stupid question like that would have gotten him grounded in Punishment again (it happened much more than he lead Percy and Annabeth to believe), but he figured his father would let it slide, given the circumstances.

"Hitler wasn't exactly what most would call a good person, Nico. And anyway, he wasn't in my domain when he killed himself, and it was too quick. Even if I'd wanted to save him, it would've caused too much suspicion. The other gods would've known I had something to do with his surviving. That and, he would've been killed soon anyway. Any more stupid questions?" Hades asked.

"No, My Lord," Nico said, kneeling once again. The Iris Message ended and Nico let his friends back in the cabin.


	9. Chapter 9

"Did you have a good talk?" Annabeth asked. Hades may have had good intentions, but gods sometimes didn't realize that mortal minds work differently than theirs.

"He told me I was necessary, but I would probably never be fully liked or accepted. And that he liked me better than Hitler," Nico spoke blankly, wanting to see how Percy and his girlfriend would view his father's advice.

"What does Hitler have to do with anything?" Percy asked, confused.

"Nico," Annabeth started, "I don't know what your father was thinking, but-"

"He's right," Nico told them, "And it helped a heck of a lot more than the bull you two were feeding me," Yes, this was a strange reaction to being told nobody would ever like him, but Nico liked knowing there was a reason; it wasn't something he did, it's just in his not-DNA. He looked at his watch and was relieved to see that it was almost time for lunch. "Can we go get food now?" he asked, "I haven't eaten in over forty-eight hours, and I'm guessing that's not good."

Percy and Annabeth, confused, but not wanting to ruin the boy's good mood followed Nico to the dining pavilion, wondering if all Italians were this strange.


	10. Chapter 10

**I know it's been like, forever, but to be honest; I was planning on ending this after the last chapter. I don't know how else to do this, so now it's going to be a Kane Chronicles crossover (sort of).**

* * *

Percy and Annabeth, not wanting to ruin Nico's new-found good mood, decided to talk about something less dreary- like the next Great Prophecy that could possibly destroy the world. "So when do you think it's gonna happen?" Percy asked.

"Probably sometime in the next century," Nico reasoned. "I just hope nobody spends fifty years in a casino because of it." Obviously he still hadn't gotten over that.

"Yes, but with our luck-"

"Percy, all demigods have bad luck," Annabeth reminded him. "I'm sure there were plenty of heroes from the fifties who thought they were going to be the hero, too."

Nico smiled a little as he listened to his friends (if they even actually liked him) quarrel. His grin became a symbol for relief when he realized he wouldn't have to worry about who to sit with, as he would at a normal camp. Here, people were not only expected not to sit with him, but not allowed otherwise. After scraping an unusually large chunk of cheeseburger as an offering for his father, Nico sat alone at table thirteen.

The son of Hades could feel Percy's gaze on him all throughout the meal, but pretended not to notice. Instead, he pondered his father's advice_. I don't want to stay where I'm not wanted… And the Underworld doesn't seem very appealing at the moment. _Picking at his dinner, Nico was finally able to devise a plan.

After summoning a mouse skeleton, the twelve-year-old sent it to his cabin to fetch a pen and some paper (Percy would get suspicious if he just up and left). He scribbled a quick note for his cousin and waited patiently for Chiron to dismiss the campers to their activities. Nico summoned a human skeleton (which most of the campers ignored) and made it give the note to Percy.

While the son of Poseidon was struggling to read the purposely messy note, Nico was in the forest, shadow-traveling to New Orleans.

To be fair, Nico did tell Percy where he was going. He told him not to worry, and he'd probably be back soon. However, he did it in a way that he knew would distract Percy long enough for him to actually do so. Yay dyslexia!


	11. Chapter 11

**Is that... an upDATE? Why, I believe it is. I suppose I could plead Mark of Athena feels, but really I was just lazy and unmotivated. Hopefully I won't make y'all wait another three months for the next chapter.**

* * *

Nico stumbled into his favorite graveyard slightly nauseous and with a crushing headache. Shuffling around, he tried to get his bearings. Once he had a good idea of where exactly he was he could locate that pine tree that always seemed to calm him down. It took him all of ten minutes to get situated. He just had to get away from all those people. It seemed stupid in retrospect, but it almost felt like everybody was just... watching him. Waiting for him to do something stupid or weird.

He didn't exactly want to be liked (at least not after that talk with his father), because then those peasants would probably try to talk to him, and whether it's because he spent the last Zeus-knows-how-many months in the company of the deceased or because he was just born without people skills, Nico did not know how to act in a social environment. He was always the kid who stood at the corner of the playground organizing his Mythomagic cards. Speaking of Mythomagic...

Grinning slightly, the Ghost King pulled out an impressive deck of cards, each labeled with a Greek god or monster. Even after he'd been playing for so many years, Nico was still kind of awful. He knew how to spot the packs with the best cards, he understood the myths. Heck, he even was even good at the video game! But the second he tried for a card battle he was dead. But really though, how were you supposed to keep track of who had lost how many points? He'd always treated them more as a collectors item than anything; they were just as organized as the figurines on his desk.

He was about to begin reorganizing (again) when a strangely familiar voice said, "Why did they let you out of the Underworld?"

Now being the scrawny, antisocial, hot-tempered son of Hades, Nico had heard some cruel insults. But that was just rude. "Excuse me?" he asked, before really looking at his company. He was a death god, Nico realized immediately, but not one he recognized. Mystery god looked and acted young, much younger than any Greek god would normally appear, but still gave Nico the feeling that he was yesterday's news even before Kronos was born. "Do I-? Who are you?" That sounded mildly respectful, right?

"I am Anubis, god of funerals, as you should well kn- you're not dead," he realized halfway through his sentence. The vermilion tinge quickly spreading from his neck to his cheeks said he was sorry (humiliated) for his mistake.

"What? I'm not? Thank you for telling me, I could've never figured that out on my own!" Nico slumped back against the tree, now in a significantly worse mood than he was in before the Egyptian (?) god acknowledged him.

"I apologize. But you should know you smell very heavily of death. Did you recently have a near death experience? Or maybe you're minor death god, in which case i cannot begin to explain how sorry I am for not recognizing you." Nico rolled his eyes at how stupidly this supposedly all-powerful being was rambling at the thought of forgetting a lesser god. Then again, he'd seen Greek gods do pretty stupid things as well. He was snapped out of his thoughts when Anubis interrupted himself, "Wait- are you even Egyptian?"

"Son of Hades," he mumbled sticking out his hand, "Nico di Angelo."

"A Greek. Your gods don't usually let us run into each other," Anubis said, amused. "Seems a little paranoid to me."

"They have good reason." Nico replied, not quite paying attention. When he realized how stupid that statement was he facepalmed and commanded, "Forget I said that." The Mythomagic deck was back in his hands before Anubis could argue.

"You play Mythomagic?" Anubis seemed really excited about this revelation. Embarrassingly so.

"Uh-huh." Nico was rightfully put off from his enthusiasm. "Well, the video game; I just collect the cards." After a second he muttered, "I couldn't figure out how you're supposed to use them."

"Want me to teach you?" Anubis's eyes looked like they belonged to the puppy he sort of was.

It's not like I have anything better to do, Nico thought to himself. "Why not?"

* * *

**Nico is to Mythomagic as I am to Pokemon. _(I know he knows how to play in canon, this is just the only way I could make it fit, okay?)_**


End file.
